


Scheming

by Willow_River



Series: Love and Fear [8]
Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 09:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5329025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willow_River/pseuds/Willow_River
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would Thog look like with messy hair? Markus and Kyr want to know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scheming

“Is Thog ever disheveled?”

Gregor had made a remark about the Alarani’s appearance always being so neat. Ashe’s offhanded rebuttal was what started everything. At the question, Markus and Kyr immediately decided to find an answer, or make one.

At first they’d tried doing concept sketches of what the man might look like if his hair wasn’t slicked back, but every attempt seemed more unlikely than the last. Kyr suggested setting up surveillance where Thog slept to try and catch him with morning bedhead, but Markus was quick to point out the lack of photo-recording capability any of his devices had. Any thoughts of spying manually were quickly forgotten with the realization that being caught could very well prove fatal.

The pair decided they needed to create a situation for Thog to fall into disarray. Explosions were involved. Of course they were. They were always involved when Kyr had anything to do with it.

Kyr tried setting off a foam bomb near Thog. The result was bubbles everywhere and Ashe yelling at the pair for making a mess of the bar again. Thog had managed to escape his foamy fate by luck and chance, having ducked behind the bar for some whiskey mere moments before the explosive went off. If anything, Gregor got the brunt of the attack, and wound up looking like a rather sad snowman when the bubbles proved more difficult to remove than anticipated.

The next attempt involved convincing Thog there was something in the woods he really needed to check out. Such efforts were futile. As a last resort, Markus tried using mage hand to lift the man’s gun out of its holster to make off with it, but Thog was much quicker on the draw and the pair were forced to retreat.

Markus then tried to use mage hand to ruffle the man’s hair directly. An inquisitive Ashe distracted the sorcelock for only a moment, but when he looked back, Dont was in Thog’s place, wondering why she was suddenly being petted.

“You think he’s onto us, man?” Kyr asked his tiefling companion in a loud whisper.

“No way, buddy, we’ve still got this. We’re gonna make this happen, even if it takes a month!”

One attempt had Kyr try to trip Thog into one of the bar’s many floor holes. Kyr tried a little too hard to act nonchalant, however, and wound up accidentally tripping Ashe and the freshly de-foamed Gregor instead. In a row. No one was quite sure how it happened, but Kyr didn’t stick around to find out as Ashe started yelling again.

Thog seemed to disappear after that. Markus and Kyr hunted high and low for the Alarani, to no avail. Eventually, they gave up searching and hung around the bar for the rest of the day putting something together.  
The sun was setting when the pair finally found Thog again. He was sitting at the table outside and sifting through some papers. Markus and Kyr looked at each other and grinned. The big redhead pulled a device off his belt and handed it off to one of Markus’ imps. The small red creature scurried up to the table, planting the device behind Thog and pressing a button to activate it. Markus and Kyr hid behind the rock to watch the show.

Nothing happened at first. Thog sipped his whiskey, wind blew gently through the trees, and the imp wandered off to do whatever it was the imps did when they weren’t unsummoned. 

Then it started. There was a low hum resonating from the machine, so low that one might not notice it if not listening. Suddenly, with a loud blast, a gust of wind was shot upwards from the device. It would have blown the air straight up Thog’s back, if he hadn’t been listening. As soon as the device started to make noise, he’d dove over the table and upended it so that it served as a barrier between himself and the strange device. 

Once the device ceased its blowing, it sputtered, whirred, and promptly exploded. Thog turned towards the rock where Kyr and Markus were hiding, his glare at such a force that the pair could almost feel it behind the stone.

“You’re gonna have to try a lot harder than that if you want to get me. Markus. Kyr. I expect you to clean every mess you’ve made here. And fix those d*** holes in the floor already!”

Markus and Kyr weren’t listening though. They were too busy watching as Ashe silently crept up behind their boss, mischief in her eyes. Just as the man was about to turn towards town, the young woman leapt onto his back, clinging on like a koala, and gave him a rough noogie. Thog was so stunned that he almost fell over, yelling and cursing. Ashe jumped away from him just as quickly and sprinted toward the rock, grabbing both Markus and Kyr by the hands, and ran off into the woods.

“Ashe, what was that?” Markus asked incredulously as he fought not to trip.

“Really gross,” the white-haired girl replied. “I don’t know what sort of gunk Thog puts on his hair, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got half of it stuck to my hand now.”

“No, I mean why did you just do that?”

Ashe stopped and looked at the men with a grin. “What can I say, I got curious. I figured out what you two were trying to pull, so I figured I’d join in. I think that was a success on my part.”

The trio stopped and remembered that last glimpse they’d gotten of Thog before they disappeared into the trees. The man standing there, utterly confused, with his shirt rumpled and hair sticking out every which way. Kyr snickered, then they all broke down into fits of laughter. 

Ashe wiped a tear from her eye. “Hah. I really needed that.”

Markus grinned at the girl and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re feeling better now.”


End file.
